Relay



Dec. 13, 1949 R. HOFGAARD RELAY Filed Dec. 4, 1946 Patented Dec. 13, 1949 RELAY Rolf Hofgaard, N ordstrandsho'gda, near-"051b, Norway Application December 4 In Norway 5 Claims.

The present invention relates to a relay of thetype which serves'to simultaneously close or interrupt a large number'of contacts for electrical circuits.

Relays of this type are utilized in a number of difierent cases such as for instance in electrical calculating machines, signal devices of various kind etc.

The object of the invention is to provide a relay of this type in which the movement of a number of elastic contact arms from a resting position to a working position is caused by means of a mechanically operated actuating member, whereas the connection between this member and the contacts, i. e. the possibility of closing and interrupting the circuits, is controlled by means of an electro-magnet which, as it has only a very small mechanical work to perform, may be given very small dimensions.

Inaccordance with the invention the mechanically operated actuating member and the electromagnet control member cooperate in such a manner that the mechanically operated actuating member is caused to engage the contact arms when these are in their position of rest, and the electro-magnet is energized, whereby the contact arms against spring action are transferred to working position and are locked in this position irrespective of whether the electro-magnet is still energized or not, whereas the mechanically operated actuating member, in case the contacts are locked in Working position and the electromagnet is not under current, is permitted to release the locking means so as to liberate the contact arms and allow sameto move back to their position of rest under spring action.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention there is used a mechanically operated'reciprocating actuating member which is coupled with the elastic contact arms by means of an electro-magnetic operated spring actuated hook. This hook acts in such a manner that after energization of the electro-magnet it will first lift a pivoted arm connected with the elastic contact arms so that a part of this arm is placed in the path of the reciprocating member which will then move the contact arms against spring action slightly further than their working position, whereupon at the beginning of the return movement of the contacts, a nose on said pivoted arm engages said hook so as to lock the contacts in their Working position and maintain them in that position, irrespective of whether the electro-magnet is still energized or not, until the reciprocating member at the moment when the electro-magnet is not 194s, Serial'No, 114,670 April 29, 1946 energized will again move the contacts a short distance away from their working position so-as to disengage-the pivoted arm from the spring actuated hook and allow the hook and the armto move back to their original" position, whereupon the-sp'r'in'g actuated contact arms which are then liberated swing back to their position of rest.

In the accompanying drawing a form of the invention is illustrated, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the contact relay'with the elastic contact arms in position of rest and the electro-m'agnet' de-energized.

Figure 2 is a similarview of the contact relay with the elastic Contact "arms still in their positiondof rest and with the electro-magnet e'ner' gize Figure '3 is a similar view of the contact relay with the elastic contact arms in working position.

The contact relay comprises a number of'elastic con'tact arms arranged in pairs as indicated with'the numbers I and 2, these arms being s'ecured at their'lower "ends in an insulating block 3 and interconnected at their upper ends by means "of another insulating block 4.

Between eachpair "of contact arms I and 2 there 'islocated'elas'tic contact arms 5'which are also secured tothe block '3, but the upper ends of which are free.

Contact arms '5'- are provided with contacts as indicated at 6, these contacts in their resting position (Figures 1 and 2) engaging one contact arm -(left') in 'thepair of'contact arms between the members of which they are located, Whereas in the woi'lin'g position, as indicated'on Figure 3, they engage the 'otherK-right) contact arm in the samep'aii' of contact arms I, 2 etc; being then bent s'ld'ewise.

In the block- 4 is pivotally mounted an arm I which is provided on its underside with a projection or nose 8.

9 is an electro-inagnet, the armature ID of which is in the form of a two-armed lever pivoted about pin II. The part of armature l0 which is further away from the magnet is made in the form of a hook l2 extending towards the underside of the pivoted arm 1. l3 indicates a mechanically operated reciprocating actuating member which serves to move the contact arms from resting position to working position and to release them again by engagement with the pivoted arm 1 on block 4.

In the position illustrated in Figure 1, in which the electro-magnet is not energized, the arm 1 is not energized by the reciprocating actuating member, but when the electro-magnet is energized the arm I is lifted by the hook I2, as indicated in Figure 2, and the reciprocating actuating member !3 will then move the arm with the block and the elastic contact arms towards the left, so that they are brought into the position indicated on Figure 3. Contacts are then closed between the free contact arms and the righthand contact arms in each of the pairs of contact arms I and 2. This position is called the working position of the relay.

When the arm I is moved towards the left by means of actuating member [3, the nose 8 passes the hook l2 and the pivoted members I and I2 will then interlock, so that the relay remains in this working position, even if the electro-magnet is energized, until actuating member 13 again engages arm 1 during its next stroke.

If on that occasion the electro-magnet is still energized the contact relay will remain in working position as the nose 8 is only moved a slight distance away from the hook l2 which remains in position and engages the nose again as soon as actuating member l3 has started its movement towards the right.

However, if the electro-magnet is de-energized when the contact relay is in working position, as indicated on Figure 3, and the actuating member l3 then moves the arm 'I towards the left the armature I!) with the hook l2 returns to the position illustrated in Figure 1, and the contact relay under spring action will then return to the resting position, the various parts taking up the position illustrated in Figure 1;

In the form illustrated in the drawing the armature lll is provided with a depending arm l4 engaging an auxiliary contact spring I5.

This contact spring on the one hand serves the purpose of moving the pivoted armature towards the position indicated in Figure 1, and on the other hand may also cooperate withanother contact spring 16 which may for instance operate as a self-closing circuit contact for the electromagnet in cases when this is desired.

By the use of the contact relay herein described in electrical calculating machines a smaller or larger number of contact relays of the type illustrated in the drawing may be placed in a row and be adapted to be cut in or out by means of a common mechanical actuating member such as for instance a reciprocating rod or shaft with arms or projections corresponding to the element l3 indicated in the drawing. The cutting in and out of the individual relays then takes place by means of current impulses to the electro-magnet of each relay, and these current impulses in a known manner may be controlled by means of relays which have been brought into working position during the preceding stroke of the mechanical actuating member.

I claim:

1. A contact relay comprising a plurality of interleaved sets of relatively stationary and relatively movable resilient contact arms, an insulating block connecting the ends of the relatively movable contact arms to each other, said movable contact arms being biased toward a rest position, a mechanically reciprocated actuating member movable in spaced relation to said insulating block, a normally-inoperative coupling member movable into operative position in the path of travel of said actuating member to transmit motion therefrom to move said movable contact arms into working position, an electromagnet having an armature operative in its attracted position on energization of the electromagnet to displace said coupling member into operative position, and cooperating latch means on said coupling member and armature for retaining said movable contact arms in working position and said armature in attracted position upon movement of said mechanically reciprocated actuating member away from said coupling member.

2. A contact relay as recited in claim 1, 'Wherein said cooperating latch means are relatively positioned to engage upon initial movement of the 7 coupling member by resilient contact arms upon reversal of the direction of movement of said actuating member after its movement of the movable contact arms into working position, whereby said cooperating latch means are momentarily released upon successive movements of said coupling member into an end position by said actuating member.

3. A contact relay as recited in claim 2, wherein said armature is biased towards non-attracted position and said coupling member is biased toward inoperative position, whereby said armature separates from said coupling member upon the momentary release of said latch means when said electromagnet is de-energized and said coupling member then moves into inoperative position upon separation of said actuating member therefrom.

4. A contact rel-ay as recited in claim 3, wherein said coupling member is pivoted upon said insulating block and is gravity-actuated into inoperative position, and said armature has an arm positioned beneath said coupling member for lifting the same upon movement of the armature to attracted position.

5. A contact rel-ay as recited in claim 4, wherein said latch means comprises the end of said armature arm and a projection on the lower face of said coupling member.

ROLF HO-FGAARD.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Thomas Nov. 19. 1935 Number 

